But does the idea of shrinking the city really have any local support?

Ask the two mayoral candidates on the Aug. 4 ballot -- Brenda Clack and Dayne Walling -- and both will tell you that "shrinking" isn't the appropriate term.

But both recognize the city has lost a chunk of its population and have similar ideas on how to deal with it -- with one major distinction.

Clack is open to the idea of having city government help people who live in mostly vacant neighborhoods to voluntarily leave their homes for a more populated neighborhood.

"It's not shrinking the city, it's repatterning the city," she said.

Walling, on the other hand, doesn't see a need for the government to intervene in such a way. Even if the city's population dips as low as 100,000, it will still be more densely populated than the out-county areas, he said.

"The people in City Hall should be able to find a way to service the entire city equally without stepping in like that," he said.